Simon ends 15-year career a changed man

Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback Geroy Simon announces his retirement from the CFL at a news conference at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Wednesday. (MICHAEL BELL / CP)

Geroy Simon is leaving the CFL a changed man.

In 1999, he joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers feeling individual success would get him back into the NFL.

On Wednesday, Simon retired as the most prolific receiver in CFL history, but he says the three Grey Cup championship titles he shared with his teammates are the crowning achievements of his illustrious 15-year CFL career.

“Hands down, those are the three most important times in my career and my most cherished accomplishments,” Simon said. “When I first got here, winning wasn’t that important to me, it was my individual success.

“I think the maturity of being here and evolving as a person, as a player with a few great organizations switched my thinking to where it stopped being about my individual success as opposed to winning games and winning Grey Cups.”

Simon, 38, twice played for teams that won Grey Cups at home — the 2011 B.C. Lions and last year with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“It’s an amazing feeling to win a Grey Cup at a neutral site,” Simon said. “But to win at home twice, not too many people can come close to that.

“I feel very privileged to have done it.”

Then again, being the most prolific receiver in CFL history isn’t shabby, either.

“No, not at all,” Simon said with a chuckle. “That’s a close second.”

Simon shouldn’t be out of football long. He’s talking with the Riders about a front-office job as a club ambassador.

The six-foot, 198-pound Simon accumulated 1,029 career catches for 16,352 yards and 103 TDs with Winnipeg (1999-2000), B.C. (’01-12) and Saskatchewan (2013). He was the CFL’s outstanding player in ’06 with 105 catches for 1,856 yards and 15 TDs, capping that campaign with his first Grey Cup title.

Simon, who spent part of the ’97 season on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice roster, spent two seasons with Winnipeg before signing as a free agent with B.C. It was with the Lions that Simon — nicknamed Superman for the pose he’d strike after scoring TDs — became a CFL star.

But the Lions dealt Simon to Saskatchewan on Jan. 24, 2013 for receiver Justin Harper and a 2014 third-round pick. After missing the Riders’ first three regular-season games due to injury, Simon finished with 40 catches for 565 yards and three TDs and surpassed Ben Cahoon (1,017) as the CFL’s all-time receptions leader.

Simon ended the season — and ultimately his career — scoring two TDs in Saskatchewan’s 45-23 Grey Cup win over Hamilton at Mosaic Stadium.

However, that Grey Cup win was much different than Simon’s first two. With B.C., he was a focal point of the offence whereas with Saskatchewan he was a mentor for the youthful Riders.

“I still believe I made a huge contribution (with Riders) but it wasn’t stats,” Simon said. “It was more in the background, in the locker-room helping mentor guys, helping them get to the right spots and get better.”